Summit Up 11-24-12: Where tourists and locals intersect

Special to the Daily/Rick Hague
Here's a recent photo of a fascinated Finnish reindeer being briefed on important developments in Breckenridge over a fine dinner of arctic moss. It was taken on a reindeer ranch near Inari, Finland, in far northern Lapland.

Related Media

Good morning and welcome to the world's only daily column that thinks this place is like Hotel California, where you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.

Thanksgiving? We're here while you're off cooking your turkey or watching the football game. Christmas? We'll be opening our stockings in the newsroom. How else would we deliver the daily news and previews to the Millions of Summit Up Readers who need our guidance to figure out what on earth to do this holiday weekend?

Granted, a bunch of y'all are working your five jobs right now because the holidays are here and there's no other way to afford life in paradise.

And then a bunch of you are here to take advantage of the services of the rest of the folks who are working while you celebrate the holidays in our soon-to-be winter wonderland.

Tourists, know this: Up here we work holidays - every last one of them - to cater to your ever-living needs, so consider heeding this advice from Steph at www.twenty-somethingtravel.com: 1. Don't Block Traffic; 2. Don't Badmouth the [High Country even when snow is at a premium]; 3. Keep Your Voice Down; 4. Respect the Culture; 5. Don't be Afraid to Ask For Help.

And locals, remember this: Everybody is a tourist some of the time. Try smiling; it goes a long way. Have fun with our guests and it's an unwritten rule that someone, somewhere, someday, will pay it forward to you too.

Everyone wants to be a local. That's why our Locals Guides fly off the shelves. Now if we could just get the locals to pick up our tourists' guides, our universe would balance itself out once and for all.